by Max Barry

Latest Forum Topics

Advertisement

3

DispatchFactbookOverview

by The brown bear. . 196 reads.

About Bear Country

NOTE: This dispatch may slowly get fancier over time, so stay on the edge of your seat!


Bear Country was founded August 22, 2016 by The brown bear, a newly-created puppet of Bruination, who's been an active member and cartographer in the region of Forest since September 2015. Bear Country was founded with the simple idea that it would be bear-themed. As it grows, an expanded and more detailed vision continues to develop. Currently the region is intended to be a fun, relaxing, and friendly place for nations that value the environment, wildlife, compassion, and inclusiveness. Being crazy about bears is not at all required! Nations only need to be comfortable with the fact that bears will always be a recurring theme in the region, including but not limited to beary unbearable puns and lots of little bear faces: 🐻🐼🐻🐼


NAQ (Never-Asked Questions)


What is there to do here?

We're still a very new community, so things may be quiet at times as we await more nations. In the meantime, we have a fantastic, shiny Regional Message Board (RMB), where you can chat with your fellow Bear Country folk all day and all night. Don't be shy! Polls will also be a regular activity. Other plans for the near future include a day of the week (or perhaps weekends) for sharing jokes, LinkSporcle.com quizzes for each other to take, contests, and other frivolity.


Why bears?

Bears are awe-inspiring, majestic, huge, intelligent, adorable, terrifying, awkward, oddly-human-like at times, and just plain cool. They also feature greatly in myths, legends, and pop culture. People have long been fascinated by bears, and rightly so!


Do I have to like bears to fit in here?

Not at all. But the region might be a better fit for you if you like them at least a little bit.


Do you allow role-playing?

Yes! Role-playing in Bear Country is certainly allowed. The region is not primarily a role-playing region, so be respectful of nations that don't wish to participate. Instead seek out the ones that do.


Are you going to have an offsite forum?

We don't have any plans for an offsite forum. Many larger regions have offsite forums that are hardly ever used, and many of the same regions do well with just using the RMB, polls, dispatches, and telegrams for most communication. So we will try to make do with these, too, and revisit the idea of an offsite forum only if these tools ever prove to be insufficient.


Can I be a regional officer?

Currently we're trying to keep the government small and simple. However, after a bit more time, the founder, The brown bear (that's me!), will start to pass on certain duties to others who are active and trusted, including to the WA delegate, who currently has WA voting and poll authority. We are, however, always looking for active members to help shape the region, even if just by sharing ideas on the RMB.


What are the rules? Where are my rules?!

Rules may be written as time goes on, whenever things happen that call for them. Be kind to one another, and maybe we won't ever have to write any rules! (Right?)


Gay embassies, LGBT tag...wait, what kind of bears are we talking about here?

Real bears, fake bears, imaginary bears, bears-in-name-only...anything goes! Bear Country broadly celebrates bears and all related bear iconography, which is in some small part shared by the LGBT bear community. However, the LGBT tag and related embassies are more to show that we are an inclusive community open to bear-lovers of all kinds, as well as anyone who finds our friendly and lighthearted atmosphere appealing, no matter what you identify as, look like, or who you love!

Embassy Policy

As of Sep. 12, 2016:

We seek meaningful relationships with thoughtful, unique, interesting, and sometimes quirky regions. We prefer ones that are able to grow, that are populated by multiple unique players, and that are selective with their choices of tags and embassies.


To weed out many of the regions that don't fit the above description, regions proposing embassy construction with Bear Country may face automatic rejection if they have any of the following:

• fewer than 11 nations
• fewer than 2 WA members
• more than 25 tags
• more than 180 embassies
• an embassy count equaling more than 3 times the region's nation count



Some exceptions may be made for regions that have a theme or focus we find considerably similar to or compatible with Bear Country's.

Proposals that aren't in danger of automatic rejection will be further evaluated for compatibility. If there are no concerns, the proposal may be accepted by the leadership or brought to Bear Country's residents for discussion or a vote.

If we have concerns about the region's compatibility with Bear Country, those may be expressed in a telegram to the proposing region's leadership, and a decision will be postponed until after a response is received.

Embassies established before Sep. 12, 2016 may include exceptions to the above criteria.

Timeline

Aug. 22, 2016—The brown bear founded the region Bear Country.

Aug. 23, 2016—The Brown Bear established the first regional flag.

Aug. 27, 2016—The Brown Bear added the tags Eco-friendly, Casual, LGBT, Multi-Species, Silly, Social, and Surreal.

Aug. 28, 2016—Population milestone: 5 nations.

Aug. 29, 2016—The Brown Bear created the first regional poll: "What is Your Favorite Bear Species?"

Aug. 31, 2016—First embassy opened.

Sep. 1, 2016—Ursus moon colony became the first WA Delegate.

Sep. 1, 2016—Population milestone: 10 nations.

Sep. 7, 2016—Population milestone: 20 nations.

Sep. 10, 2016—Population milestone: 30 nations.

Oct. 21, 2016—Population milestone: 40 nations.

Dec. 21, 2016—Population milestone: 50 nations.

The brown bear

RawReport